JLNV members and menstrual-equity advocates Jennifer Boysko and Holly Seibold are excited about Britepaths’ period pantry. From left are Sarah Staropoli, Miranda Lewis, Sukari Gaylor, Boysko, Seibold and Imani Myers. Photo by Bonnie Hobbs.
It’s 2025 but, sadly, the needs of American females overall still come in second to those of males, and the federal government is trying to demonize the word, “equity.” But in Virginia, and especially Fairfax County, women are doing their best to change things.
So it was with great fanfare and joy that nonprofit Britepaths celebrated the April 25 ribbon cutting of its “period pantry” inside its Fairfax headquarters. Its official name is the SNAP Gap Pantry because it provides items not covered by SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits for low-income people.
The new addition is sponsored by the Junior League of Northern Virginia (JLNV), and Britepaths Executive Director Abra Kurt acknowledged both it and BRAWS (Bringing Resources to Aid Women's Shelters) in her opening remarks.
“We’re so grateful for our partnership with Junior League,” she said. “We have a longstanding commitment to providing for the needs of women and families, and BRAWS has also been a longtime supporter of that aspect of our work.”
Period poverty affects an estimated two in five women in Northern Virginia, creating obstacles to their education, work and overall well being. So this pantry will help eliminate a barrier for area residents by providing consistent, dignified access to a range of women’s health and hygiene products. And the JLNV has pledged to donate more than 8,000 period products to it annually.
“Britepaths has been around for 41 years,” said Kurt. “We started as a homeless shelter in Fairfax in 1984. And when the county opened its own shelter, we transitioned to a soup kitchen and traveled between congregations and communities in the region. We later saw the need to provide more support for the people we serve. As the housing crisis started to skyrocket in the late ’80s and ’90s, we thought there’d be a need for more than just the emergency assistance we were providing.
“So we developed our wraparound support services, which include financial empowerment, workforce development and supports for children – such as our back-to-school program, where we supply new backpacks and school supplies. And this year, for the first time, we’re thrilled that we’re also going to be able to provide period supplies as part of our back-to-school kits. Thank you all for making that possible.”
JLNV President Erica Bledsoe said her group is a women’s leadership organization currently focusing on women helping women. “Two out of five women have issues accessing menstrual products, and that’s an essential need and should be free and accessible,” she said. “So we were excited when Britepaths reached out to us about this collaboration.”
“This is our sixth period pantry, but we didn’t have one in this Central Fairfax location,” she continued. “I want to thank Imani Myers, our period pantry manager, for helping establish this, with support from Sarah Staropoli, our community council director. And I want to introduce Miranda Lewis, our incoming president as of June 1.”
Next, Del. Holly Seibold (D-12), who founded BRAWS, called Britepaths’ new period pantry “amazing and just so wonderful to see.” She said an article she read in 2015 about women getting suits from Dress for Success first opened her eyes to the problems females had obtaining menstrual supplies and undergarments – “essential items to help women get back on their feet and children to go to school.”
Seibold then contacted several organizations, including Britepaths, to see if they needed these things, and they all said yes. So that same year, she held a collection drive at her house.
“The response was incredible,” she said. “So many women were bringing things, we just held a party and called it ‘Mardibras,’ because it was around Mardi Gras time. The only entrance fee was to bring a pack of [sanitary] pads, tampons or a new bra – it was important for the dignity piece that it was new – and new underwear.
“So many people came that day, left items on my doorstep if they couldn’t make it then, and were saying, ‘I’ve never thought about this. It never occurred to me that these were things people didn’t have access to.’ In addition, period products were taxed heavily, weren’t provided at schools and weren’t covered by WIC [supplemental nutrition for women and children] or Medicaid. Shelters weren’t getting donations of these items because of the stigma, and most of their grant funding didn’t cover menstrual supplies.”
This situation seemed “shocking to people,” said Seibold. “And because of that, BRAWS began growing in a grassroots way and exploded. I’m really proud of the work we did, because I feel like – 10 years later now – I’ve seen so much more effort and work in this space. We’re able to talk about it, recognize it and ask people for these donations that could have been embarrassing, years ago.”
She said she and Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-38) were working together and wondered why Britepaths and various shelters were so in need of these items. And, said Seibold, “That’s when I found out that public policy doesn’t really reflect the needs of women and girls.
“Jennifer was just elected [to the House of Delegates in 2016], and I contacted her, and we ended up meeting. And she said to me, ‘I don’t think the word ‘menstruation’ has ever been uttered in the halls of the General Assembly.’ So [we worked on a bill together] and called it the Dignity Act because we were trying not to say, ‘menstruation,’ and because we thought it would be better received.”
And they succeeded. Boysko introduced it in the Senate, and it was approved by the General Assembly and governor in 2020. Virginia’s Menstrual Equity Act mandates all public schools provide free menstrual supplies in bathrooms in middle and high schools and is accessible in elementary schools. And since 2023, Virginia no longer taxes menstruation products.
“I ran on this topic and now I’m serving in the General Assembly [since 2023],” said Seibold. “So we’ve come really far in those 10 years, and I’m proud to be part of it. I’m also super happy about the destigmatization; and here we are now, able to help those who need it the most in the commonwealth.” Then, thanking Britepaths and the JLNV for installing the new period pantry, she added, “This is an incredible feat, and I look forward to hearing what you’re going to accomplish in the years ahead.”
Speaking next was Boysko, now a senator. “When I got to the General Assembly in 2016, you would not talk about periods,” she said. “There weren’t many women who served. And I always look back at the work we’ve done on period poverty and menstrual equity as a real indication of what really matters to the people sitting in those seats.”
“We have now normalized the conversation,” she continued. “I recall that, the second year we carried the bill, the members of the committee got so uncomfortable that somebody claimed they were all late for a meeting – and then everybody ran out of the room. Seriously, they really did.”
However, said Boysko, Seibold, now Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read and others unleashed a “grassroots storm” on social media and “shamed them into coming back and having a committee hearing about it.
“When we start talking about issues that matter to everyday women, we’re making decisions about how we’re spending our money and how we’re able to access education and work. And when our nonprofits and civic organizations come together with us, we get meaningful public policy [done] that matters to the people living in our communities.”
Boysko said Britepaths’ new period pantry serves as an example, and it “makes a big difference to individuals having challenges accessing period products. Thank you all so much for the work you’re doing every single day. It’s a tough time financially for so many families in our communities, and you’re all a lifeline.”
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Menstrual products may be donated to Britepaths’ period pantry, at 3959 Pender Drive, Suite 200, in Fairfax, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.